Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we are
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in
our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.
I have
many questions arising from our scriptures today. The psalmist asks “Who are we that God
is so good to us?” “What did Jesus mean when he said “I still have many things
to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” What did Paul mean when he talked about
justification by faith? How are we supposed to know what the Spirit of Truth
is? And the biggie, “why are we supposed
to rejoice in our sufferings?”
Sometimes it
seems like scripture raises more questions than it answers, and some may wonder
why we bother at all. The complicated
game we call life means that we are constantly curious about all knids of
things, from the number of stars in the universe to the reason why mosquitos
exist. But none is as perplexing to me
as why is there suffering?
Why do
children get cancer, why do young people get involved in situations that lead
to shootings, why does someone’s whole house burn down but the cross for her
dead nephew stays standing? Why does a prominent member of Athabasca die in a
motorcycle collision?
These kinds
of questions are a part of being human, they are part of our struggle to find
meaning in a world that all too often feels like the atheists have got it
right; life is a meaningless piece of chaos that is one long experience of
struggle and suffering. Or life is what
you make of it, get off your chair and get working. Or buy this miracle pill or try this wonder
diet or go to hear this fabulous guru who will answer all your questions, or
get your horoscope done now and you will know your future. We often want the instant remedy that will
solve all our problems and eliminate all our suffering.
And there’s
always someone with an answer, “If God closes a door, he’ll open a window”, or
“what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”, or “Everything happens for a reason”,
or ‘no pain, no gain’. The platitudes
that we all know seem to work for everyone else but us.
Jesus was
speaking to his disciples on the last day of his life, and he didn’t have easy
answers for them. He didn’t tell them
that life was going to be rosy, with glorious times ahead. He didn’t make promises that they were all
going to end up rich, powerful and surrounded by friends. He left them with a mystery.
He left them
with a promise. He left them with the
sense that they would find support. He
left them with an understanding that there was more to come, and that they
would grow into that ‘more’. He left
them with guidance, not answers. But he
did promise them truth and peace.
Paul also
talked about peace coming from a deep connection with God. It grieves me when I hear about folks who
look for peace elsewhere than God. The
people who put all their hopes in another person, ‘if only I had a boyfriend or
girlfriend, that will solve all my problems’, or the folks that turn to suicide
or expensive non-medical plastic surgery.
The folks that horde up money but live in run-down housing with less
than healthy conditions. The people
addicted to their household items that fill up their homes until their family
and friends call a television show to stage an intervention. The grandparents who dote on their children
and grandchildren, only to see those childrens lives destroyed by drugs. So
much pain.
So when we
hear about ‘boasting in our suffering’, we need to be very careful. It’s not that we are to go on some massive
pity party, seeing who can brag about who has the biggest scars or the longest
chemo treatment. No, we need to look at
the culture of the time. Paul was
writing to folks who believed that the stars were the lights coming from holes
poked in the big bowl of the sky that let God’s light in to the world
below. There was some basic
understanding of some people that the world was more curved than flat, but many
sailors still believed that if they sailed too far from land, they would fall
off the earth. The gods of Zeus, Apollo,
Hera and Athena quarrelled like humans, took lovers amongst themselves and
played with humans like they were toys.
If disaster hit, it was because the humans had done something terrible
to deserve that. So misfortune was a
sign of shame and disgrace in the community.
It was something to be hidden and shunned and not talked about.
Paul is not
saying we should brag obnoxiously about our health problems or family squabbles. What he is saying is don’t be ashamed of our
faith when we have difficult times.
Don’t hide our pain or our frustration or our anger. But speak our truth with love and
sensitivity. When we find safe places to
talk about our hurt and confusion, our frustration and our fear, we can become
transformed.
I have seen
several folks this week find a deep sense of inner peace from finding someone
safe to talk to about what they are really going through. It is amazing to watch that transformation
and healing that occurs. It may not be
big dramatic healings, but it may be as simple as cutting out a prayer from the
bulletin or a quote from the bible and putting it on your fridge. It may be a little reminder, a thank you note
or a pressed flower that you keep in a special place. It can be a walk in the rain where we are
reminded of the amazing mystery of life going on around us, the renewal in the
spring when we thought nothing would grow again in our lives.
God still
speaks, words that encourage us and help us find peace in the midst of our
suffering. Let us hang onto the promise
that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love
has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to
us.